The inventive concepts relate to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a memory device including a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) pattern and a method for manufacturing the same.
As high-speed and low-power electronic products have become in great demand, high-speed and low-voltage memory devices installed in the high-speed and low-power electronic device have also become in great demand. Magnetic memory devices have been developed to satisfy the demand for high-speed and low-voltage memory devices. Magnetic memory devices may provide high-speed and/or non-volatile characteristics, and may be focused on as next-generation memory devices.
A magnetic memory device may be a memory device that uses a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) pattern. A MTJ pattern may include two magnetic layers and an insulating layer disposed between the two magnetic layers. A resistance value of the MTJ pattern may be changed based on magnetization directions of the two magnetic layers. The MTJ pattern may have a relatively large value of resistance if the magnetization directions of the two magnetic layers are anti-parallel to each other. Conversely, the MTJ pattern may have a relatively small value of resistance if the magnetization directions of the two magnetic layers are parallel to each other. The magnetic memory device may write/sense data based on a difference in resistance values of the MTJ pattern.
A spin transfer torque-magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) device, in particular, may have a write current that decreases in magnitude as a size of a magnetic cell decreases. Accordingly, a STT-MRAM device may be focused on as a highly integrated, high-speed, low-voltage memory device.